This post was originally published in September 2018. Here’s the new and improved version!
Coming up with real estate blog ideas and scheduling them isn’t as hard as most people make it out to be.
I’ve been a professional real estate blogger for a few years now (you may see me on Inman from time-to-time, but I mostly ghostwrite Realtor® blogs), and today I’m going to take you behind the scenes to show you how I help my clients plan a full year’s worth of real estate blog ideas in just 15 minutes.
You may be surprised at just how easy this 3-step process is!
Step 1: Decide on Your Real Estate Blog Categories
Having blog post categories simply makes it easier for your readers to find the posts that pertain to them.
You don’t need many. Somewhere between 4 and 10 is good.
If you’re short on time, you can just borrow my most recommended real estate categories:
- Buyers
- Sellers
- Homeowners
- Locals and Newcomers
- Investors
These work perfectly for about 95% of all agents.
Step 2: List All the Real Estate Blog Ideas You Can Think of for Each Category
I like to open an Excel Sheet or Google Sheet and just start listing everything I can think of in 10 minutes. Setting a timer keeps this task from becoming an all-day affair. You can always add to it later, but for now, you just need to get your ideas documented in one place.
How many ideas do you need?
I recommend agents commit to one blog post per week, so you need 52 ideas to round out your full year of real estate blog ideas.
Warning: don’t make this mistake…
At this stage, most agents make the mistake of ignoring topics that have already been done. I have news for you: all topics have already been done. You don’t need to come up with a completely original topic. You’ll put your own unique spin on each topic when you actually start writing your posts.
So feel free to do a “first-time buyer’s guide to house hunting”, a “10 tips to stage your home for a quick sale”, and a “top 5 renovations to add value to your home”. Then when you sit down to write your post, focus on your local market for an instant unique spin. What do first-time buyers need to know about house hunting in your city (in addition to all the nation-wide basics)?
You can also use the calendar to spin your topics. What should your local sellers know about staging their house to sell during the summer?
You can even spin economic conditions. How about DIY renovations that will add value without breaking your budget?
Popular blog post ideas are popular because people like them and find them useful. So don’t limit yourself to obscure topics.
Need a short-cut?
I have a list of 100+ real estate blog ideas ready to be delivered to your inbox! Just enter your email below, and you’ll get it in minutes.
Add to your list whenever a topic strikes your fancy
Whenever I come across an interesting post idea on social media or any of the (many!) Realtor blogs I follow, I take a second to add it to my ongoing list of real estate blog post ideas. By the time the next year rolls around, I typically have over 52 post ideas queued up and ready to be calendared.
Step 3: Put Them on the Calendar
Armed with your blog post ideas, it’s time to plug them into your Real Estate Blog Content Calendar.
I use a simple spreadsheet for my blog content calendars. To save yourself a few minutes of setting up your own, you’re welcome to download the calendar template I use. Just enter your contact email here to get an Excel file delivered to your inbox. The first month is laid out for you in this template! And it includes a brainstorming sheet with a couple bonus ideas.
Here’s how I schedule my real estate blog ideas on my calendar:
1. Stagger categories
You don’t want to spend months posting topics for buyers and ignoring everyone else. Staggering your categories makes sure you’re consistently providing information valuable to each group.
2. Fill in any time-sensitive posts.
Obviously you want to publish posts about winter during the winter (or at least late fall). If you have post ideas relating to certain holidays, calendar them for the weeks leading up to that holiday.
But use time-sensitive posts sparingly. You can’t promote these posts year-round, so they aren’t as valuable to you as “evergreen” content that’s always relevant. You can promote your evergreen content on social media platforms all year long for years to come!
3. Fill in the rest.
Alright, simply enter your topics wherever you think they fit best. Just try to keep your topics varied so you’re not posting about similar topics for multiple weeks in a row.
Also try to keep your personal schedule in mind. Schedule your easiest-to-write topics for weeks when you know you’ll be extra busy. And your harder-to-write topics for weeks when you think you might have a little more time to invest in your blog.
That’s it! Easy, right?!
Optional Steps
If you have a chunk of extra time and want to really plan ahead, there are 3 extra steps you can take. But honestly, I never address these additional steps until I sit down to write that week’s post.
- Choose your Keywords for each post. Keywords are the words people Google to (hopefully!) find your blog post. They’re the cornerstone of SEO. And if you want your real estate blog to be a success, you need an intro to SEO.
- Craft your titles. Titles are tricky. You want them to be clickable without being click bait. I usually consider between 3 and 8 different titles for each post. Ideally, you want your keyword to show up in your title, but not if it makes the title awkward. We talk more about this in How to Write a Blog Post in 7 Easy Steps.
- Decide on any content upgrades you want to offer. Content upgrades are valuable freebies you give your readers in exchange for their email addresses. Your audience gets something truly valuable, and you get to grow your email list. The 100+ real estate blog ideas and the blog content calendar template? Content upgrades! This should go without saying, but your email list should be used very carefully; if you spam your audience, they will unsubscribe so fast! Only email them if you have something valuable to offer them.
As I said, I like to address these as I work on each week’s post, when my mind is more focused on the specific topic. But some people prefer to have this all planned ahead of time.
No Time?
If you really don’t have any time to spend planning your real estate content (or this just isn’t your forte), take a professional shortcut! You can purchase complete real estate blog content calendars on Etsy! Topics have already been scheduled, keywords have already been researched, and titles have already been crafted for you! You’re instantly several steps closer to having a successful real estate blog.
What Next?
So you have your real estate blog ideas schedules on your new Content Calendar. Where do you go from here?
If you’ve never written a real estate blog post, here is the definitive guide to crushing your first post.
I also have a couple genius posts to help new real estate bloggers:
- How to Write a Blog Post in 7 Easy Steps
- How to Create the Perfect Realtor Blog (When You Suck at Writing)
- Introduction to SEO for Realtors
And for the more advanced real estate bloggers:
- How to Make Money Blogging About Real Estate
- How to Build Your Real Estate Mailing List from Your Blog
What if you don’t have a website of your own yet?
If you don’t have your own website yet, you really need one.
Your website is the hub of your real estate business. It’s how prospective buyers and sellers will be able to find you.
And no, your broker’s site isn’t good enough. Your broker’s site promotes your brokerage. Not you. You need a site that promotes you with your own personality and branding!
Building your own website is totally doable and more affordable than you might expect. Check out How to Build Your Own Real Estate Website for a crash course in website building.
Questions about planning your real estate blog ideas, setting up your blog, or even building your website?
Contact me! I’m always happy to help.
